A Woodside Wedding: The Guys Veg Out, Then Get Ready in 10 Minutes

After Mr. Cola left our hotel suite the morning of our wedding, so the ladies and I could get ready, he met up with the guys in another room down the hall, and they spent the morning watching the World Cup and doing who knows what else.

Of course, there are no pictures of their morning, since “they had no cameras” (and my pointing out that if they had cell phones, they had cameras was apparently lost on them). All I know is that it was reported partway through the morning, when a bridesmaid ran down to their room to get something, that it smelled like “testosterone” in their room. Meaning lots of sweaty, stinky boys crammed in a room, getting riled up and yelling at the TV, no doubt.

At about 1 in the afternoon I texted Mr. C that it was his half hour warning until the photographers were arriving, so they should think about starting to get ready. And once the photographers arrived, they captured these photos of the studly guys putting on their own finishing touches! They sure clean up good, if I do say so myself!

Groomsman P was the official tie tying instructor!

I love that it looks like Mr. Cola is getting some serious advice from his brother in this picture.

But Mr. C claims that it was all good times, joking and laughter in the hotel room that morning, and that this is a better representation.

Mr. Cola had his own photo shoot next to the window.

This is one of my favorites!

Some of the groomsmen gifts made an appearance.

After one final mirror check, Mr. Cola was ready.

Once the guys were dressed and ready to impress, they headed out by the pool for a few more photos. First they tried to play it cool.

Then took a few of the adorably funny jumping photos I’d wanted to badly. They didn’t disappoint! :)

And a few of Mr. C with his bro.

Then two of the groomsmen had to head out, to drive the Uhaul truck with all the decorations up to our venue. The rest of the guys went back up to the hotel room to gather their things, and waited for their cue to head out as well a few minutes later. And it was almost time for Mr. Cola to leave for our first look in the park!

Miss any wedding week details? Catch up here:

- I packed an emergency bag that saved my dress
- We had a crazy 4 days prepping for house guests and stuffing favors
- Shopping for a ton of wedding flowers to arrange ourselves
- Mr. Cola drinks a 40 and I have a night out on the town for our low-key bach parties
- A day of DIY'ing flower arrangements
- I kicked off our official recaps with my #1 wedding tip
- We began the weekend festivities with a sunset cruise for our wedding party
- We rehearsed our quick and easy ceremony
- I panicked, but we got our rehearsal dinner decorations set up just in time
- Our families met for the first time at our rehearsal dinner under the trees
- What went wrong on our wedding day, and my tips for future brides
- My bridesmaids and I got our hair and makeup done in the hotel suite
- I put on my wedding dress and became a bride

(All photos in this post were taken by the very talented photographers of Shoot Me Now Photography)

A Woodside Wedding: The Finishing Touches

When our photographers arrived at the hotel suite, we were just breaking out a bottle of champagne, while waiting for my hairstyle to come together. I had wanted to be completely ready, except for having my dress on when they arrived, but oh well!

(Cheers!)

(We totally rocked the champagne in Solo cups!)

Instead, my hair running late gave one of our photogs time to take some pro shots of my accessories, while the other headed down the hall to take photos of the guys getting ready, which you’ll see in my next post.

My dress:

Shoes and dress:

I swoon every time I look at these pictures of my shoes!

Our wedding bands with one of my "something old" items (a little bear I gave one of my grandmothers when I was 3 years old that she carried around in her purses for 20 years, and my grandpa gave it back to me after she passed).
And our bands with one of our DIY invitations. I love how they captured the laser cut text so well!

Our hotel suite door sign:

Then it was finally time to put on my dress!

I never thought I’d be a “dress bride.” You know, the bride who is head over heels in love with their dress, loved shopping for it, tried on a million dresses, and felt like a princess when she put it on; I always just cared way more about my shoes and the DIY details of our wedding. I had struggled to even get excited about dresses at first, had some disappointing shopping experiences (including rudely being told I should lose weight), but finally found a gorgeous gown that was perfect for me. And while I wouldn’t say I felt like a “princess” when I put on my wedding dress on our wedding day, I did feel gorgeous and really did love my dress to pieces. It made me so very happy; putting on my dress meant that the day was really and truly finally here—I was a bride, and about to marry my best friend!

I slipped into my dress in the downstairs bathroom in our suite, and then came out to get laced up by my sister, who had taken off her bridesmaid dress so the bust line could being sewn closed by her boyfriend (A guy who can sew? Now that's a keeper!).

While my sister was finishing lacing my dress, one of my other bridesmaids helped me put on my jewelry, because I couldn’t let go of the stairway railing for long, or I would fall over—my sister was doing a great job of cinching my corset super tight so "the girls" wouldn't fall out!

Then I was ready to slip on my flip flops (I wore those to our first look, because I didn’t want to tire out my feet with my 4 ½ inch heels until the ceremony), put on my lipstick, and posed for a couple of quick shots next to the window and with my bridesmaids. We were still running about 20 minutes late, and couldn’t spend much more time on the finishing touches!

Next up, the guys get ready!

Miss any wedding week details? Catch up here:

- I packed an emergency bag that saved my dress
- We had a crazy 4 days prepping for house guests and stuffing favors
- Shopping for a ton of wedding flowers to arrange ourselves
- Mr. Cola drinks a 40 and I have a night out on the town for our low-key bach parties
- A day of DIY'ing flower arrangements
- I kicked off our official recaps with my #1 wedding tip
- We began the weekend festivities with a sunset cruise for our wedding party
- We rehearsed our quick and easy ceremony
- I panicked, but we got our rehearsal dinner decorations set up just in time
- Our families met for the first time at our rehearsal dinner under the trees
- What went wrong on our wedding day, and my tips for future brides
- My bridesmaids and I got our hair and makeup done in the hotel suite

(All photos in this post were taken by the very talented photographers of Shoot Me Now Photography)